1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data storage. More specifically, the present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for preventing an unread activity, such as an unread mark, from being replicated back (i.e., bounced-back) to an originating server during a replication operation.
2. Background Art
To make a database available to users in different locations, on different networks, or in different time zones, a special type of database copy called a replica can be created. When a change is made to a replica, that change is duplicated to all of the other replicas of the database that have been created. This operation ensures that all users share the same information.
An exemplary server system 10 illustrating a related art replication operation between two servers is illustrated in FIG. 1. It is assumed for the purposes of this description that the reader has an understanding of replication commensurate with one skilled in the art. Accordingly, a detailed description of replication is not provided herein. One system capable of replication is Lotus Domino.
As shown in FIG. 1, a database replica 12R exists on servers 141 and 142. Although shown as including only a pair of database replicas 12R on servers 141 and 142, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that server system 10 can include additional servers 14 and replicas 12R.
Normally, when replication occurs, unread activities (e.g., a user reading new email messages, a user marking email messages Read or Unread, etc.), represented by entries in an unread log 161 in server 141, are replicated from server 141 to server 142 and are added to replica 12R. This is indicated by directional arrow 181-2 in FIG. 1. When replication subsequently occurs at server 142, the unread activities are replicated back (i.e., bounced-back) to server 141. This is represented by directional arrow 202-1 in FIG. 1. This is a redundant step and a wasted transmission because server 141 originated the unread activities. Upon receipt, server 141 discards the duplicate unread activities (i.e., the unread activities that originated at server 141) received from server 142 during replication. Unfortunately, such wasted transmissions reduce the efficiency and performance of the replication operation and waste valuable network and server resources.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a method, system, and program product for optimizing unread replication by preventing an unread activity from being sent back (i.e., bounced-back) to an originating server during a replication operation.